karlooz

i have a 2 day event coming up next week at laguna seca. temps will be in the mid 50s to mid 60s (showers the previous night) with tiny chance of showers. should be dry but should i switch to full tread dunlop ssrs or leave the almost_at_the_wear_bars MPSCs on. i just got the MPSCs with a set of wheel so i don't have any experience w/ them. i've read, on this board, that the MPSCs take a while to heat up. i guess they are more of a summer tire. the dunlops actually have a lower treadwear rating than the MPSCs so would they would be better suited to cooler weather. thoughts?

RedlineMan

Hey;

Harder to get up to temp than usual, even with your heavy car. Take your time and warm up methodically.

DrJupeman

I've run MPSCs twice at Peachstate's Road Atlanta event in Jannuary. Both events were in the 30's at best. I found that as long as you respected the conditions and didn't expect summer-like levels of grip, the tires were fine. Take your time, get some heat into them, and I found they were reasonably predictable and reasonably quick. No complaints.

Bull

I would add, due to the description of the tires condition and the unknown history, that I have found that end-of-life MPSCs are often over their heat cycle limit prior to the tread being gone. IF this is the case with yours, it will cause them to have much lower grip.

mooty

karlooz,

mpsc is hard to get warm at that temp. and DO NOT touch the berms, especially at T6 if it's even remotely wet.

jh

earlyapex

I'll see your there. The Weather Channel is forcasting rain for the 1st. Let's hope they're wrong. I've run MPSC's in Dec/Jan at LS. Give them at least two laps to warm up. They will never get up to a good level of grip. I'm going to run my street tires (rain) or full tread RA-1's.

Are you going on the 15th with CDS or in Jan with NCRC?

Mark in Baltimore

Fully agree with this statement. Your tires will probably be a lot of fun to drive but not very grippy.

karlooz

thx all. i got the wheels/tires off a rennlister av8tr. he said they have 4 track days so i figured there would be some life left. i am estimating 8 heat cycles.

mooty: thx for the warning at T6

earlyapex: i'll be on the lookout for you. are you driving the yellow 911SC? let's hope that the weather channel is wrong about 12/01. i decided not to do 12/15 w/ CDS. higher risk of rain and i have taken too much time off from work already. not sure about jan w/ NCRC, higher risk of rain.

BluemaxxRacing

Perfest timing of this question because I just got back from the PBOC event at Barber and it was 50s - 60s as a high during the day as well. Turns out that I had newly heat cycled MPSCs on and I could not have been more disappointed. First let me point out that I am a HUGE MPSC fan because we run races all year down here in S Florida and they are simply the best tires (IMHO) in the super heat and humidity. Here in the summer, the MPSCs never seem to quit and get better and better as the session or race goes on.

At Barber in the low humidity and low temps, I found them to be very predictable but VERY VERY poor as far as grip. In fact, guys who I normally run faster than ran 2-3 seconds faster than me (they were on Hoosiers and Kumhos). Another Rennlister mentioned that he switched to his old Hoosiers and found 6 seconds and I believe him too!

My opinion is this....if you have the option to run grippier tires in the low temps, definitely do it. The MPSCs just don't work well in those conditions.

earlyapex

Yup, it's the 78SC for the track. The 996 is now a daily driver.

The track is different with the berms shaved. It should be very green as it just rained this week. Stay off the berms when it's wet and you should be fine. The morning sessions will be cold!!

I putt 50 heat cycles through my MPSC's and they stayed very consistent. My car turned out to be too light to really work the tires so I didn't achieve the same perceived level of grip with the tires as I had on my 996. However, I did not suffer from the sudden let off in grip as others had experienced. I finally flat spotted the fronts and decided on switching to RA-1's. Next week will be my first days on these tires.

Which run group will you be in?

mooty

eric, 50 cycles on mpsc. wow.
after 20 cycles, my are toast and rock hard.

karlooz

i'll be in intermediate and it'll be my first time at seca. think i'll just keep the MPSCs on till they're done. see you there!

mooty

this is your first time at LS...
do not, i repeat do not touch the berms, you will slide right off track if the berms are remotely wet.

T11 (the last turn) is SLOW. if you think you can make it at X mph, then that really means do it at X/2 mph or you will kiss the inside wall.

do not lift coming down T9.

have fun otherwise.

911

As others have stated, take your time on your warm up laps and ease your way into the corners With each successive lap you should feel the tires grip better.

earlyapex

Bring something with grooves on it for Thursday. Tomorrow will be clear, but a big storm is coming in tomorrow night. I'll see you in a few.